Looking for opinions/suggestions on low cost kit

So, we're looking for a new DSLR body/lens kit for our reporters to use.  I'm looking at several different options, and would like to hear any suggestions/comments/experiences relating to some lower end body/lens kits.

They would not be shooting sports or outdoors, so high FPS is not that important.  What is important is decent High ISO performance and a good flash system that gets it right more often than not.

Obviously opinions are going to be all over the map-I'm just looking for a way to eliminate or add cameras to my list of ones to check further.

Since these would be stand alone kits, I'm going to look at Nikon as well, and would welcome any helpful thoughts/suggestions there as well.  (I'm also posting this in the Nikon forum)

Thank you!

--
Jim Dean